Tag: food

It’s Not a Broken System: From Food to Development, It’s a Masterpiece of Control

Industrial agriculture is not a system in crisis. It is a system in command. Engineered with precision, it reflects the civilisational logic of industrial modernity: domination over cooperation, profit over sufficiency, scale over ecology. It is not malfunctioning—it is functioning exactly as designed.

Across three volumes—Food, Dependency and Dispossession (2022), Sickening Profits (2023) and Power Play: The Future of Food (2024)—I have mapped this critique in layered terms. What emerges is not a sectoral failure but a planetary regime of dispossession: a machinery that converts ecological life into economic assets, undermines autonomy under the banner of development and metabolises resistance into market-friendly reform.

The food system is not broken. It is a weapon. And it is intended as such. It concentrates power, severs people from land, deskills and displaces producers and commodifies nourishment. It benefits financial capital and corporate actors while externalising its costs—to health, biodiversity, labour and culture.

In the Global South, ‘development’ is the velvet glove of structural dependency. It arrives cloaked in the language of poverty reduction and climate resilience—while deepening indebtedness, consolidating proprietary seed systems and subordinating food sovereignty to export-driven logic. For all its rhetoric and well-laundered PR, Bayer is not saving Indian agriculture. It is enclosing it.

Behind the slick brand messaging lies a familiar pattern. Corporate contracts replace commons. Proprietary inputs replace knowledge. The land is enclosed—not always by fences, but by code, debt and bureaucratic abstraction. This is not progress. It is programmed disempowerment. Weber’s ‘iron cage’ of rationalisation is no longer metaphor—it is agronomic policy, algorithmic governance and institutional capture.

Post-development theorists like Arturo Escobar and Gustavo Esteva have long exposed ‘progress’ as a colonial narrative—one that erases plurality and imposes a singular vision of modernity. Barrington Moore’s study of agrarian class structures illuminated a deeper truth: the fate of democracy and dictatorship often hinges on how land is owned, who controls surplus and which coalitions form around agricultural production.

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GM crops fuel rise in pesticide use despite early promises, study shows

Spread of GM crops has not contributed to chemical reductions or land reclamations, but to increased use of the pesticides they were claimed to curtail. Report: Claire Robinson

GM crops have increased agriculture’s dependence on pesticides rather than reducing it, a study published in April 2025 found.

Drawing on data from four GM crops – Bt cotton, herbicide-tolerant (HT) soybean, HT and/or Bt maize, and HT canola, the researchers – including agricultural development expert Prof Glenn Davis Stone from Washington and Lee University and Bt cotton expert K. R. Kranthi of the International Cotton Advisory Committee – traced the surge in chemical use over three decades.

They found a paradox: while GM seeds were supposed to reduce pesticide use, their introduction caused pesticide use to soar. The researchers explain this outcome using the Jevons paradox, an economic theory that dates back to 1865. British economist William Stanley Jevons argued that efficiency in resource use often leads to more, not less, consumption. The study applies this idea to GM crops, which were claimed to reduce pesticide use, but in reality have made it skyrocket.

The researchers consider the two most prevalent GM seed-pesticide technology regimes: Bt crops and herbicide-tolerant (HT) crops. Both seeds are billed as efficient technologies: HT crops are claimed to facilitate more efficient weed control, and Bt crops are claimed to control insect pests more efficiently.

However, the researchers found that, “Like other technological efficiencies… the increased use of GM crops over the past 30 years has not contributed to input reductions nor to land reclamations, but to the expansion of agricultural land and increased use of the very pesticides these technologies are purported to curtail.”

This is due to the complexity of agricultural systems: “The efficiencies of GM crops not only lower the cost for individual farmers to use, in aggregate, more pesticides; they also make those pesticides ever more essential to the political economy of agriculture through the input-intensive monocultures in which they are embedded. In fact, increases in chemical usage occur throughout these GM crop systems because technological substitutions like GM seeds cannot be separated from their cascading impacts on labour, weed and pest ecology or agricultural decision-making.”

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Smells Like Bureaucratic Overreach: FDA Greenlights Lab-Grown Salmon

In a move that reeks of bureaucratic overreach and questionable priorities, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has rubber-stamped Wildtype Inc.’s lab-grown salmon, the first of its kind approved for human consumption in the U.S.

Derived from mesenchymal lineage cells and mixed with plant-based goo to mimic sushi-grade saku cuts, this franken-fish is being hailed as a “sustainable” solution to overfishing. 

Meanwhile, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is shaking up the public health establishment, firing all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) in a bid to root out conflicts of interest and restore trust in vaccine science. 

The contrast couldn’t be starker: one agency pushes untested biotech food on the public, while another tries to clean house of industry-aligned insiders. Welcome to the brave new world of “Gold Standards.”

Wildtype’s cultured salmon, approved in June 2025 under FDA consultation CCC 000005, is grown in bioreactors over four to six weeks, sidestepping nature’s blueprint for a lab-bred alternative. 

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Some Jolly Rancher sweets unsafe to eat, FSA says

A number of products from a brand of US sweets are “unsafe to eat” and contain ingredients which could damage DNA and increase the risk of cancer, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has warned.

UK businesses and consumers are being urged to stop buying and selling the Jolly Ranchers products, owned by US company Hershey.

The FSA says they contain chemical compounds – mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH) and mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) – which are “not compliant with UK laws”.

The products pose a safety risk if consumed regularly over time but there is “no immediate cause for concern, as [the] food safety risk is low”, the agency adds.

In a food alert published on Wednesday evening, the FSA said: “MOAH can cause damage to DNA and has the potential to increase the risk of cancer, particularly if consumed in high quantities over a prolonged period of time.

“MOAH is a genotoxic carcinogen, therefore no exposure is without risk to human health.”

MOAH and MOSH are used in confectionery to prevent stickiness and create a glossy appearance.

According to the agency, The Hershey Company has been working with the UK government body to remove the affected Jolly Rancher products from the UK market since 2024, but some businesses in Britain have continued to import the products.

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Snarky Democrat Rep’s Interrogation of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick Backfires When She Makes an Embarrassing Blunder While Discussing Bananas 

A Democratic member of Congress earlier this week made such an embarrassing mistake regarding one of the world’s most famous fruits that one could justify an IQ test for certain members of Congress.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was testifying before the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday to defend Trump’s tariff policy when a snarky Rep. Madeline Dean (D-PA) decided to try to entrap him with a question about tariffs on bananas while holding the fruit.

After Lutnick calmly stated the answer (10%), Dean fired back and said Walmart had already increased the tariffs. Unbothered, Lutnick pointed out that there is no tariff for people who manufacture in America.

Immediately following Lutnick’s remark, Dean face-planted with a comment that is news to people in several states, including Hawaii and Florida.

TRANSCRIPT:

DEAN: What’s the tariff on bananas? Americans, by the way, LOVE bananas… What’s the tariff on bananas?

LUTNICK: The tariff on bananas would be representative of the countries that produce them.

DEAN: And what’s that tariff?

LUTNICK: Generally 10%.

DEAN: Walmart has already increased the cost of bananas by 8%.

LUTNICK: If countries do deals with us, that tariff will go to zero…

DEAN: But the cost is on the American consumer now…Mr. Secretary, I believe you know better. I believe you recognize that a trade deficit is nothing to fear…I wish you would show that truth to this administration.

LUTNICK: There’s no uncertainty if you build in America…There will be no tariff.

DEAN: We can’t produce bananas in America…We cannot build bananas in America.

The truth is that bananas have been grown in America for decades, with the first banana farm established in 1876 in Florida, near Silver Lake.

Today, bananas are grown in several states, with Hawaii producing the most. Florida ranks second.

Other states, such as California, Texas, Louisiana, and Arizona, produce bananas as well, albeit nowhere near the scale of Hawaii and Florida due to their climate.

Florida is also a major exporter of bananas, particularly specialty ones such as Thai and cooking bananas.

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Doritos and Mountain Dew could carry a new ‘not recommended for human consumption’ warning under landmark Texas bill

A Texas bill on the brink of becoming law would crack down on major food manufacturers, requiring them to label products with warnings about ingredients “not recommended for human consumption,” under the standards of countries other than the U.S.

Senate Bill 25 would require U.S. food manufacturers to, beginning in 2027, clearly mark products sold in Texas with warning labels that the foods contain certain ingredients like bleached flour and synthetic food dyes that other countries have prohibited or required warnings for. The legislation would impact major food manufacturers like General Mills, whose brands Pillsbury Toaster Strudel contain bleached flour, as well as PepsiCo, the conglomerate behind Doritos and Mountain Dew, which contain dyes.

The bill also outlines requirements for physical education and nutrition education in schools. The legislation reached the desk of Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Sunday.

Supported by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the bill’s enactment would notch a victory for Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement. The HHS secretary, as part of his MAHA efforts, has advocated for the banning of dyes, additives, and seed oils, arguing the ingredients increase the risk of cancer, hyperactivity in children, inflammatory bowel diseases, and allergic reactions.

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Despite Cancellation of Moderna’s mRNA Bird Flu Jab, Efforts for mRNA-LNP H5N1 Jab for Cattle Forges Ahead

Citing a decision based on safety, integrity, and trust connected to a product that “was not scientifically or ethically justifiable,” the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) notified Moderna on May 28 that it was terminating the company’s $776 million contract for the development of a bird flu vaccine for humans. That decision is undoubtedly the correct decision. Yet, meanwhile, realizing the danger to humans of the under-tested mRNA technology platform, the US government continues to fund research on H5 influenza mRNA-lipid nanoparticle (LNP) vaccines for use in cattle.

And to make matters worse—and essentially negate the progress made with the termination of HHS’s contract with Moderna—the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved on May 31 a new Moderna COVID-19 mRNA jab called mNEXSPIKE®, which the DARPA partner noted was “for use in all adults 65 and older, as well as individuals 12 through 64 years of age with at least one underlying condition that put them at high risk for severe outcomes from COVID-19.”

While this article ponders the ongoing experimentation with mRNA technology in cattle for bird flu, the FDA’s approval of mNEXSPIKE® is reckless. Meanwhile, as we discuss cattle, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the US Department of Energy continue to use federal funding to create mRNA-LNP jabs targeting highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b in Holstein calves. The USDA allocated $824 million in emergency funding in May 2024 to bolster H5N1 efforts, including vaccine development for livestock, with ongoing research to evaluate effectiveness in lactating dairy cattle and eventually other animal species.

To help push the needle forward quickly, a 2025 preprint conducted by researchers at the USDA’s National Animal Disease Center and the University of Pennsylvania—who have received consulting fees from Big Pharma groups, including Pfizer—aims to paint the research in a glowing light, noting that an H5 mRNA-LNP vaccine induced robust antibody and T-cell responses in calves, offering partial protection against H5N1. However, notably, the preprint failed to report biodistribution data, only mentioning intramuscular administration but not whether the mRNA or LNPs were tracked in tissues beyond the intramuscular injection site. But make no mistake. We know that both the mRNA and toxic LNPs can also enter the bloodstream, leading to systemic distribution to organs across the body, including the liver, spleen, heart, and other tissues.

Concerningly, we also know mRNA-LNPs cross the blood-brain barrier, settling into essentially every organ in the human body, causing damage to the brain, heart, liver, and bone marrow in humans. Why isn’t this deadly hazard being studied in cattle? Thus far, no studies have directly quantified H5 mRNA-LNP biodistribution in cattle, particularly in lactating dairy cows, where H5N1 replication in the mammary glands raises significant concerns about milk safety.

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Takeaways From the Make America Healthy Again Commission Report

The rise in chronic diseases such as obesity among children can be traced to health decisions influenced by distorted scientific literature that is funded or otherwise impacted by corporations, according to a May 22 report by the Make America Healthy Again Commission.

The commission, chaired by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., plans to issue policy proposals at a later date.

Here are five takeaways from the report.

Focus on Ultra-Processed Foods

Kennedy has for years decried how children are eating more ultra-processed foods, and the report attributes the increase in childhood chronic diseases in part to that dietary shift.

“Rising rates of childhood chronic disease are likely being driven by a combination of factors, including the food children are eating,” it states.

Officials pointed in part to a 2021 study, which found that nearly 70 percent of calories consumed by American children come from ultra-processed foods, up from zero a century prior.

Other research cited in the report noted that ultra-processed foods, or foods high in sugar, fat, and chemicals, often lack nutrients.

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Liberal Boomers lined up for Carney—now their grandkids are lining up at the food bank

In 2021, 5.8 million Canadians lived in households struggling to put food on the table. By 2024, that number shot up to nearly 10 million.

Newly released data from Statistics Canada shows that food insecurity in this country has taken a horrifying leap, with a staggering 72% increase in just three years.

Among children, the picture is even bleaker. Nearly 2.5 million Canadian kids—one in three—now live in food-insecure households. That’s not some distant tragedy in a far-off land. That’s right here, in your neighbourhood, in your kid’s classroom.

And while families are rationing groceries, Liberal Boomers just handed the reins to Mark Carney—the unelected high priest of net-zero—who’s promised to keep punishing farmers, truckers, and the energy industry with his anti-energy policies. 

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USDA Approves Nebraska’s Banning Soda and Energy Drinks From Food Stamps

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins issued a waiver on May 19 restricting the use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funds to buy soda or energy drinks in Nebraska, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in a May 19 statement.

This is the first-ever state waiver banning soda and energy drinks from SNAP, popularly known as food stamps.

“Prior to this waiver, SNAP recipients could buy anything except alcohol, tobacco, hot foods, and personal care products,” said the statement.

The waiver, which takes effect on Jan. 1, 2026, is part of the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again agenda, the USDA said, adding that this “historic action seeks to reverse alarming disease trends across the country.”

One in three children between the ages of 12 and 19 is affected by prediabetes, it said. Forty percent of school-aged children and adolescents suffer from at least one chronic condition, while 15 percent of students in high school drink a minimum of one soda per day.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February establishing the President’s Commission to Make America Healthy Again. The agency is tasked with investigating the “root causes of America’s escalating health crisis,” including chronic disease among children, according to a White House fact sheet.

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